1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to motor vehicles, and in particular the present invention relates to a power management system suitable for use with motor vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
The related art teaches a variety of features and functions related to communications systems and accessories associated with motor vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,484 to Nakaya et al. and assigned to Hitachi, Ltd., is directed to a system and method for conserving power of a portable multimedia terminal. Nakaya proposes the concept of intentionally lowering the quality of encoded information that is transmitted by the terminal in order to conserve battery power. By lowering the quality, power can be conserved because lower quality or lower compression rates help to reduce the number of CPU cycles and the number of processor instructions required.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,865 to Pichard and assigned to U.S. Phillips Corporation is directed to an energy saving method for vehicle-mounted electronic equipment. Pichard teaches the concept of synchronizing different wake-up periods from different applications. For example, two different applications may have similar but not identical expiration dates or time periods where a system or computer is “woken up” from a sleep mode to transmit information or conduct an operation. Pichard teaches the concept of synchronizing these wake-up times so that the system is not woken up in rapid succession.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,841 to Hamrick et al. and assigned to BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation, is directed to a GPS management system. Hamrick teaches the use of a remote alert transmitter that can be used to initiate the function an In-Car unit 100. See column 7, lines 42-50. Hamrick also discloses a daily batch upload function where data that has been collected by the In-Car unit, is uploaded or sent to a central office at predetermined times. See column 12, lines 5-52.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,072 to Reichelt and assigned to Ericsson, Inc. is directed to a reserve power system for a communications device. The '072 patent attempts to maintain the power level of a battery above a certain preselected minimum emergency level. This emergency level allows a certain number of emergency calls to be made. The system can inhibit the non-emergency phone calls and can terminate existing non-emergency phone calls when the minimum emergency power level has been reached.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,580 to Moon and assigned to CISCO Technology, Inc. is directed to a communications device that permits communication as long as the power supply remains above an emergency threshold. The Moon invention proposes a system where a device maintains a certain minimal level of energy that can be used to send an emergency communication. In other words, Moon prevents the device, under ordinary use, from using energy below an established threshold.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2002/0183036 to Marko et al. and apparently assigned to XM Satellite Radio, Inc. (see paragraph 0003) is directed to a battery backup system for a digital receiver unit. Marko teaches a system that considers whether the ignition of the automobile is turned on. See paragraph 0025. In Marko's system, when the vehicle is turned on or operating, the primary energy source can recharge the backup battery source. If the vehicle is not powered on (the ignition is turned off), charging the backup energy source is preferably disabled. Also, when the ignition is off, the backup battery can be used to turn the receiver on for a download of data.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2004/0139180 to White et al. and assigned to Sony Corporation, teaches the concept of synchronizing media on an automobile with media on a home media server.
While the related art teaches a number of different power conservation and communications features, what is needed is a comprehensive power management system that can conserve power and also manage the power consumption of various devices and accessories that may automatically function after the motor vehicle has been switched off.